This one’s for you Jessica… Our fabulous reader Jessica commented on yesterday’s DO questioning the lovely furniture behind the day’s pick. I wasn’t quite sure what its formal title was–the chic lovechild of a chaise and settee perhaps?–so I had to do some digging. Turns out, it’s a fainting couch. The design became popular in the 1800s when the femme-fashion du jour was corsets. Some homes and hotels apparently even had “fainting rooms” where women in their tightly worn ensembles could literally fall upon these mini sofas and catch their breath. (I heart the Victorian era…) The term is all but vanished from our design vernacular today, but the style remains in the form of chaise lounges and settees (though Urban is striving to bring it back–see below). So in tribute of our fallen (or fainted) sisters of the past, here’s a selection of some fabulous (and affordable) fainting couches! (-Allie)
Clockwise from top left: Button-Tufted Chaise Settee in Green, $449.99 at Target. Antoinette Fainting Sofa in Carbon, $575 at Urban Outfitters. Luxurious Convertible Settee, $1,799 at Wisteria. Antoinette Fainting Sofa, $575 at Urban Outfitters. Antoinette Fainting Sofa in Sunflower, $575 at Urban Outfitters.
Swatchbook 